Jigsaw Group Chief Executive, Brian Moran, Roli Barker, Jigsaw Group Chair and Andrew McLaren, Deputy Leader (Growth, Housing and Homelessness) welcomed Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig as she unveiled plans to deliver a new generation of 50,000 council and genuinely affordable homes – and calls on public bodies to free up land as part of new Public Sector Land Bank.
- Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Craig announces a new generation of 50,000 council, social and genuinely affordable homes by 2039
- 10,000 of these new homes will be built, on site, or on the way by May 2028
- Greater Manchester’s Good Growth Fund is already kickstarting development across the city region, but the Mayor has announced it will go further to prioritize affordable homes
- Now the Mayor is setting up a Public Sector Land Bank calling on public bodies to help speed up work to end the housing crisis by identifying land they can release for new much needed affordable homes
- The Mayor’s plan will transform disused brownfield sites into housing that people can afford and remove barriers so developers can get building
- The Mayor will set up a new board to oversee delivery across every borough
MAYOR of Greater Manchester Bev Craig has set out her plan to tackle the housing crisis and deliver a new generation of council, social and genuinely affordable homes with 50,000 new affordable homes across the city region by 2039, removing blockers to development and transforming disused public land into new housing schemes.
By May 2028 10,000 of these homes will be built, on site, or in the pipeline with planning permission ready to go.
Today (Wednesday 12 August) Bev visited a development in Ashton-under-Lyne in Tameside where 35 new social rent homes have been delivered on brownfield land by Jigsaw Homes and developer Greenwood Builders.
Greater Manchester backed the development with £2.7 million from the Affordable Homes Programme and £700,000 from our Brownfield Housing Fund, which was designed to decontaminate land and make it ready for construction, removing blockers to development.
To meet the scale of our ambition and deliver the homes we need, Greater Manchester will need to pull every lever at our disposal – from remediating brownfield land to bringing forward dormant sites in public ownership.
That’s why the Mayor will be asking public bodies in Greater Manchester to carry out a public land review and identify sites that could be brought forward to deliver homes.
We’ve already used our Brownfield Housing Fund to support dozens of schemes that are delivering thousands of affordable homes – including social rent homes on council land in Manchester, Salford, and Stockport.
It now forms part of our £2 billion Good Growth Fund, which is investing in a pipeline of projects to deliver new homes, regenerate town centres, create jobs, and build infrastructure to connect people and places.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Craig said:
“Everyone in Greater Manchester should have the security of a good home that they can afford and no one should feel priced out of their community. I benefited from the security of a good council house growing up, and I want everyone to have that opportunity. As Mayor, I am determined to deliver a golden era of more council and social homes, using all means at our disposal in Greater Manchester.
“Nationally we face a housing crisis, with too many people trapped on housing waiting lists or living in poor sub-standard rented accommodation. In Greater Manchester I’m determined to change that by building a new generation of council and social homes across Greater Manchester and making it a GM wide mission, with a new board to oversee our delivery.
“We’ve started ramping up delivery, when I was Manchester Council Leader I built more council and social homes that Manchester had built in 25 years, but we need to go further and faster in every bit of Greater Manchester. Too many brownfield sites sit empty across Greater Manchester- so will target them and set up a new Public Sector Land Bank that can be used for council, social and genuinely affordable homes. That’s why we will be leading by example when it comes to freeing up disused and dormant public land for development and I’m calling on other Government bodies to join us.
“I know first-hand the security that a council house brings. That’s why I am absolutely committed to delivering the council and social homes that people here in Greater Manchester need, so everyone can have the foundation of a good life in our city region.”
Our joint development plan of nine council areas, Places for Everyone, has removed planning obstacles and mapped out shovel-ready sites to deliver the new homes we needs, maximising the use of brownfield land while protecting the Green Belt from unplanned development.
Through this work, we’ve identified land supply for 78,585 new homes of all tenures up to 2030.
Of our 10 council areas, Salford and Stockport are now building more homes for social rent than they are losing through Right to Buy – helping turn the tide on the housing crisis.
By 2027, we expect the whole of Greater Manchester to be building more socially rented homes than we are losing to Right to Buy.
Greater Manchester is in line to receive an initial £1.8 billion from the Government’s Social and Affordable Homes Programme, and we’re working with councils and partners to map out how we can accelerate the building of new homes and the Mayor will meet with Government in the coming weeks to set out joint plans to achieve our ambitions.
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